Truly significant investments require a long term to develop and mature

The two sectors where I think Romania could develop true economic growth engines are the IT and tourism.

PRESIDENT at ASOCIATIA ECONOMISTILOR MAGHIARI DIN ROMANIA

1. As an economist, what is your professional view regarding the economic development in Romania, in 2016?

In 2016, the GDP of Romania pulled off a spectacular 6% growth in Q2, three times above the EU growth of the same period with a 19% minimum wage growth, 6% unemployment rate and a -0.4% inflation rate. The GDP in 2016, according to various predictions, will probably be between 4.5 and 5.5%. All these numbers look very impressive on the surface, but as one of the best presentations at our 2016 annual conference, held by Mr. Dumitru Ion, CEO of Kompass Romania, revealed, these indicators are not produced by the most sustainable part of the Romanian economy. The vast majority of turnover (61.57%) and profits is produced by a very thin layer of big companies (2,840 companies, representing 0.62% of the total number of companies operating in Romania). The small and medium sized companies are somewhat less profitable than the big companies, but still more profitable than the vast majority of micro companies that put up the 83.49% of the number of companies in Romania and that produce an overall 2% loss instead of profit.

In conclusion, the overall numbers look very good, but the structure and the details of Romania’s economy should make us take these numbers with a grain of salt.

2. Can you tell us a few things about how The Hungarian Economists’ Society of Romania is contributing to the growth of the Romanian economy?

The most important thing that we do is bringing together the academia, the economic professionals and entrepreneurs in a community centered around economic questions. The Hungarian Economists' Society from Romania is an apolitical NGO focused on the professional development of its members. We pride ourselves with approximately 500 members in 10 local chapters, half of which are members of our youth fraction – young economists.

We have a professional library in Cluj-Napoca with 7,000 books, we organize trainings, roundtables and conferences in areas that are important for the professional development of our members. We also publish professional books, and organize a financial contest for high school students.

Our partners from abroad include the Hungarian Economic Association (Hungary), the Hungarian Economists’ Society from Voivodina (Serbia) and the Hungarian Economists’ Society from Slovakia. We regularly attend each other’s conferences, maintaining a living contact between our professionals.

We can say that the Hungarian Economists’ Society of Romania can be an important asset for those companies operating in Romania that are interested in extending their business in countries of the Carpathian basin.